tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16045608493487049562017-07-23T01:35:36.947-07:00Justin and Amy in SudanJustin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-85809861548273146452017-07-07T03:00:00.000-07:002017-07-07T02:58:21.898-07:00Want the link for online giving?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pioneers.org/donate?firstname=Justin%20and%20Amy&amp;lastname=Culp&amp;projectcode=111886&amp;gifttype=M&amp;Amount=50"><span style="color: white;">Click Here to Donate!</span></a></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-40586127940961558232017-07-07T02:30:00.000-07:002017-07-07T02:58:44.956-07:00Justin and Amy Culp: Reaching the Lopit People of South Sudan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><b>***Scroll Down to see Recent Newsletters***</b></span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><b>“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes…” – Revelation 7:9</b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;"><b>From 2010-2011, Justin spent over a year in Southern Sudan doing evangelism in some very lost areas, and helping disciple some of the local pastors.&nbsp; While there, he came face to face with the great need for the gospel in many parts of this new country.&nbsp; After Justin and Amy got married in 2011, they raised support and went back to South Sudan to work on church planting and discipleship.</b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;">Pioneers believes strongly in reaching unreached peoples, church planting movements and a passion for God.&nbsp; Justin and Amy have been working with Pioneers to start reaching the millions of unreached people in Southern Sudan with the gospel of Jesus Christ.&nbsp; Their goal is to disciple local believers to be strong leaders in their local churches and to start reaching the rest of their own tribes and fellow Sudanese people.&nbsp; This happens mostly through relationship and Bible Study as we seek to avoid dependency-building “platforms</span><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;">.”</span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;">Th</span><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;">e Lopit people live in and around the Lopa Mountains in South Sudan.&nbsp; The people group is approximately 76,000 people according to the Joshua Project, with almost no Evangelical Christians.&nbsp; With no Bible translation and very little church planting activity, their eternal outlook is rather bleak.</span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;;"><b>Justin and Amy plan to spend however long it takes in Sudan helping bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to these unreached, hopeless people.&nbsp; We are working in the villages with a few believing people to try and spread the gospel and teach Bible stories to those who are believing.&nbsp; We believe firmly that the Sudanese church can stand on its own without outside, western aid, and we fully intend to partner with the Sudanese church in a way that will empower the locals, while not being afraid to stay as long as it takes to build real disciples and see a growing, thriving, reproducing church in a tribe without their own Bible.&nbsp;</b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; line-height: 115%;"><b>Would you be willing to pray and/or financially support us as we follow God’s call in this endeavor?</b></span><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;;"><b>&nbsp;</b></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'mongolian baiti';">Use the link on the right side of the page to donate, or support can be sent to:</b></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: 'mongolian baiti';">Pioneers</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;;"><b>c/o Justin and Amy Culp - 111886</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;;"><b>10123 William Carey Dr.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;;"><b>Orlando, FL &nbsp;32832</b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;mongolian baiti&quot;; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-54805057317603701272017-07-07T02:00:00.000-07:002017-07-07T02:59:17.931-07:00July 7, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jDwXyPE8m3A/WV9aEp5xaII/AAAAAAAAGQY/GjAP0x4M62Ap9c-Svu2BkPYI4l0XGyL1gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20170704_170840644_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1008" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jDwXyPE8m3A/WV9aEp5xaII/AAAAAAAAGQY/GjAP0x4M62Ap9c-Svu2BkPYI4l0XGyL1gCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_20170704_170840644_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><em style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"><br /></em><em style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"><br /></em><em style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Or What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?&nbsp; Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?&nbsp; If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!&nbsp; Matthew 7:9-11</em><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">This newsletter is a bit longer than I usually like them to be, but hopefully it’s worth the read!</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Two weeks ago I came back to Lohutok to start working on our house.&nbsp; The goal is to get the work on our house finished before Amy and the kids come back, so when we are here together as a family we can be focused on language and culture learning, etc.&nbsp; As is par for the course when managing a building project in South Sudan, nothing goes according to plan!</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Before we even left to come back, I had been meditating on what it means to be sons/daughters of a good, benevolent father.&nbsp; I talked a bit about justification in the last newsletter, but another side of that truth is this example from Matthew 7.&nbsp; I was talking once with a group of recruits for our organization, and some of them were anxious about the appointment process, the length of time it will take and some of the difficult requirements they were given.&nbsp; I was encouraging them that after 8 years as a missionary, I can look back at all of those times when things didn’t happen as fast as I wanted them to happen, and I can say “Okay, I see what you were doing there!”&nbsp; I reminded them that God is not going to give a snake, He’s not going to give a stone, so we can trust that our Good Father in Heaven really is making things happen in the best possible way for us, even if it seems painful or hard.</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">So now I’m in Lohutok.&nbsp; Before I left Uganda I was able to arrange all of the materials I need to do this work and have them shipped up to South Sudan.&nbsp; The truck bringing my things was delayed for a few days because of rain, and was late reaching Torit (the town 50 miles from here).&nbsp; The second truck, who had agreed to bring my things the rest of the way, then had mechanical problems, so by the time he got that fixed he couldn’t ship my materials anymore because he had a pressing job with UNICEF.&nbsp; We were supposed to have building materials a week ago and now I’m still waiting.</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">We have a few friends here from South Africa who know how to do things like pour cement and build buildings, things that I’m not particularly good at.&nbsp; Scott is one of them, and he was planning on being around until July 10</span><sup style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia;">th</sup><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">.&nbsp; My goal was to finish a few of the things that I really need his help/advice on before he leaves, but on Sunday Scott received tragic news about his father and left the next day for South Africa.</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">I went to Torit the day after I heard that the truck was going on a different job so that I could intercept him on the road and talk to him, and also to bring cement back from town for the work on our place to continue.&nbsp; I found the driver and talked to him, and then on my way home that night I got hopelessly stuck in the mud, spent the night on the road (after digging for 6 hours or so trying to get out) and ruining 4 bags of cement because the water from the puddle flooded the back of the pickup.</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">In addition to all of that, there have been other irritations with getting the internet working, extra trips to other villages, donors (large ones) who have come upon financial hardship and have had to stop giving or stop giving as much, being separated from my family, not ever getting a chance to Sabbath, etc.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4mxb04gonE/WV9aMDcgAzI/AAAAAAAAGQc/KZrCZ-74mc0XiKI8HzV9wZUIj3yz6cYNwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20170702_112308139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="567" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4mxb04gonE/WV9aMDcgAzI/AAAAAAAAGQc/KZrCZ-74mc0XiKI8HzV9wZUIj3yz6cYNwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20170702_112308139.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Charles, the technician who came to install our</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;internet (and 2 others connections) sprained&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;his ankle while he was working. &nbsp;A frozen water</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;bottle was the only way we could get ice on&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;the swelling!</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">The funny thing about all of this is, I feel pretty good about the whole situation.&nbsp; Normally I’m the task-oriented, impatient guy who needs everything to go quickly and according to plan, but this time around it just…feels different.&nbsp; I keep meditating on the fact that God is not in the business of giving snakes and stones, and so I can trust that even though the materials aren’t here, our cash is getting low, I’m tired from driving and digging myself out of the mud, and the things/people I was putting my trust in for help aren’t around now, God is still actively controlling and providing for my circumstances.&nbsp; He is good, He knows what the end looks like while I can only guess.&nbsp; In the same way that I long to be back with my children and love on them and bring them gifts, God is passionately looking out for and providing for my needs, but in an even greater way!</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Philippians 1:3-4,</span><br style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Justin (for all of us!)</span><br /><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQpFRU7psKw/WV9aMZVjx8I/AAAAAAAAGQg/MOzQwEjgymU9uqvUf5D-3dhtU7sjGd4EgCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_20170629_074646820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1008" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQpFRU7psKw/WV9aMZVjx8I/AAAAAAAAGQg/MOzQwEjgymU9uqvUf5D-3dhtU7sjGd4EgCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_20170629_074646820.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">I fixed the broken tank, had no leaks in it at all, pumped it full of water, used it all day, and the next morning it had sprung a new leak!&nbsp;</span></div><span style="background-color: #36c0cb; color: #3f3f38; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-14856382678067708102017-05-30T06:00:00.000-07:002017-05-30T08:53:58.814-07:00May 30, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CYlPdQ4FrJo/WS2TiqC8I6I/AAAAAAAAEus/RTWJxoYxjDMVwg4BcAoOSm-KxDNsTdHBwCKgB/s1600/Culp%2BFamily-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CYlPdQ4FrJo/WS2TiqC8I6I/AAAAAAAAEus/RTWJxoYxjDMVwg4BcAoOSm-KxDNsTdHBwCKgB/s320/Culp%2BFamily-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Lately I’ve been meditating on the idea of “spiritual growth” in the life of a believer and what that really means.&nbsp; I think we often use that phrase in reference to growth in obedience to a set of rules or in adherence to a set of disciplines (prayer, contemplation, Bible intake, evangelism, etc.) but that definition, when tested, is found lacking.&nbsp; When I fail, am impatient with my family, covet what other people have, or even more blatant sins that happen in public or private, my first response is “I should be praying more!&nbsp; I should be reading the Bible more!” but is that really a Christian response?&nbsp; I think the self-reliance that is exposed in such responses is a form of pride so subtle that we often miss it, but is quite profound.&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As I’ve gone through a study on these ideas with my pastor from Lawrence, I’ve realized more that “spiritual growth” really involves a growing realization and understanding of the depth of my sin (even my spiritual disciplines come from proud self-reliance!) and at the same time, growing in my understanding of God’s holiness and “Otherness” as one who is so far removed from the depravity that so subtly makes up my character.&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The danger I’ve noticed in myself as I meditate on the widening realization of this gap is that it always brings me back to self-reliance.&nbsp; I should be trying harder!&nbsp; I should be … what?&nbsp; The only answer to the broadening, infinite gap between my sin and God’s holiness is a broadening, infinite understanding of the cross of Christ which still bridges the gap.&nbsp; My response to my failure and sin should be to run back to the cross and cling to it, and grow in my love and appreciation for what Jesus accomplished on that cross!&nbsp; My obedience, discipline, striving for a growing sanctification, all come out of that relationship that Christ forged on the cross, but those things never make me more or less acceptable to God…Jesus has already finished that work.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><u>Family Update</u></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;We’ve move out of our Kansas City house, traveled a few thousand miles, got all of our belongings packed in trucks or disposed of, and are ready to go!&nbsp; We’re staying with friends in St. Louis until our departure on June 6<sup>th</sup>.&nbsp; We’ll get to Uganda where Amy and the kids are going to stay for a bit while Justin works on our home in the village.&nbsp; Pray that:</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">&nbsp; &nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">God will provide for all of our “last minute” expenses that are impossible to plan for!</span></li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The work on our house will finish quickly</li><li>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The kids will do well with the time change, new places, new friends, new sicknesses (especially Caleb who’s never been to Africa!)</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Lopit Update</u></b></div><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Lately we’ve been hearing more news about famine and starvation in our area.&nbsp; It’s a problem all throughout South Sudan, and seems to happen on some scale every year, but with the ongoing war things are exacerbated.&nbsp; Aid gets spread thin and hyper-inflation makes it impossible for people to pull themselves out.&nbsp; One report suggests that up to ¼ of the people in our village have left to refugee camps because of food shortage.&nbsp; Pray that:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The gospel would change our country's leaders</li><li>God would provide a way for the Lopit, especially the church, to stay in their homes.</li></ul><div>As always, thanks for praying and feel free to share this!</div><div><br /></div><div>Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KGGRCf8h2TU/WS2U2gw_DiI/AAAAAAAAEu8/FaZoe2HkPSE36jrhpKovlsN1A-K03sINQCKgB/s1600/Culp%2BFamily-108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KGGRCf8h2TU/WS2U2gw_DiI/AAAAAAAAEu8/FaZoe2HkPSE36jrhpKovlsN1A-K03sINQCKgB/s640/Culp%2BFamily-108.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofgck-f5fj4/WS2UupDKqKI/AAAAAAAAEu4/Axpkhhk8mdYgWka56SO23tj7ziLaTVV2wCKgB/s1600/Culp%2BFamily-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofgck-f5fj4/WS2UupDKqKI/AAAAAAAAEu4/Axpkhhk8mdYgWka56SO23tj7ziLaTVV2wCKgB/s640/Culp%2BFamily-6.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-82731777535512991222017-04-16T08:55:00.000-07:002017-04-17T08:55:46.675-07:00April 29, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WDVRQvFD3jg/WPTlUNe1V_I/AAAAAAAADl0/ajf0UXpjkO4P0ynNeNtM__M3NOhkKpkowCLcB/s1600/20170407_150858%25280%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WDVRQvFD3jg/WPTlUNe1V_I/AAAAAAAADl0/ajf0UXpjkO4P0ynNeNtM__M3NOhkKpkowCLcB/s320/20170407_150858%25280%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is a short update, with lots of last-minute preparations there just hasn’t been a lot of news to report!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">We’re leaving Kansas City on May 11<sup>th</sup>.&nbsp; We have a lot of traveling around to do before we go back to South Sudan.&nbsp; Justin will be in Chicago for a couple of days at an Orality conference, and then we’ll be in Orlando for a week where we’ll be trying, again, to recruit new members for our team.&nbsp; After that it’s back to St. Louis while Justin goes to Kansas City to finish cleaning the house, and then on June 6<sup>th</sup> we’re leaving!&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Justin’s surgery has been a pretty big success so far.&nbsp; Since surgery he’s lost over 125lbs and is in the best shape of his life.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ezekiel got tubes in his ears on April 19<sup>th</sup>, please pray that he is recovering well from that.&nbsp; We have lots of transitions this month with packing, moving around, visiting family, returning vehicles, saying goodbye, and more.&nbsp; Please pray that our kids do well and stay healthy during this time, and that God provides for what we need!&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks for praying for us!<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qrW4gFxTwkY/WPTlX9somcI/AAAAAAAADl4/OcmIxbZVHBE662NF7ayATlKnQciMSHZlwCLcB/s1600/20170407_150907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qrW4gFxTwkY/WPTlX9somcI/AAAAAAAADl4/OcmIxbZVHBE662NF7ayATlKnQciMSHZlwCLcB/s320/20170407_150907.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-49784336926286608862017-03-28T14:58:00.000-07:002017-03-29T15:01:12.644-07:00March 30, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XbENa4t2n2s/WNwuX1OdgZI/AAAAAAAAC3w/TkWi3bKsjucEvxUais624e6Z_xftFlfUACLcB/s1600/20170317_190027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XbENa4t2n2s/WNwuX1OdgZI/AAAAAAAAC3w/TkWi3bKsjucEvxUais624e6Z_xftFlfUACLcB/s320/20170317_190027.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We’ve done lots of travelling lately.&nbsp; Caleb is getting a little big for the “Infant In Lap” option though!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;We’re finally going back to Lohutok.&nbsp; After lots of waiting and talking with our leadership about security issues, we finally got the clearance to go back this week.&nbsp; Of course, the best we can do is to say, “As things stand now, it’s okay to go back” understanding that it could change again any time.&nbsp; Regardless, we bought our tickets and are departing from St. Louis on June 6<sup>th</sup>.&nbsp; That gives us a few weeks to close up the house we’re staying in, pack our things, say goodbye to family and friends, and make one last trip to Orlando for team recruiting, and then we’ll be off!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The last month has been a pretty busy one for us.&nbsp; We went to Orlando for a week in March to try and meet/recruit new members for our team.&nbsp; At the end of that week we flew back to Kansas City, and I (Justin) left the next morning with our sending church pastor to drive BACK to Orlando for a Church Partner Forum.&nbsp; We had to drive because of some medical issues with the pastor, it was a really good trip.&nbsp; We spent three days thinking through Indian Avenue Baptist Church’s role in international missions, and how they could be more involved in the South Sudan work and in the Great Commission overall.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Two days after we got back from Orlando, I got the call from our leadership saying that we could plan on returning to Lopit in May.&nbsp; I immediately started making plans for our return, and it ended up being the first week of June just because of the difference in ticket prices.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There are still some things that we need in order to function well as a church-planting team in the Lopit, mainly team mates.&nbsp; Will you join us in praying that the Spirit would raise up some people to come to Lohutok who are willing to stay for a while, learn a language only spoken by 70,000 people, and start doing evangelism and discipleship with us?&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks!<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MKuznQn3dsY/WNwuiLICvEI/AAAAAAAAC30/QyuNQ77d_UMvmmSI7DKmSXb4cVJmz8RpACLcB/s1600/20170326_091634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MKuznQn3dsY/WNwuiLICvEI/AAAAAAAAC30/QyuNQ77d_UMvmmSI7DKmSXb4cVJmz8RpACLcB/s320/20170326_091634.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ezekiel insisted on going to “Big Church” this week, probably because daddy had been gone for a while and just got home.&nbsp; Antioch had a couple of kids getting baptized that Sunday, and Ezekiel had lots of questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-72442050368622919992017-03-02T06:29:00.000-08:002017-03-03T06:29:37.969-08:00March 2, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z77iRxVdbHo/WLl9HHz_cYI/AAAAAAAACmc/1zc52dc7_rwOPSPKMtLJOr2qfVW6xr6wQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7235%2Bcropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z77iRxVdbHo/WLl9HHz_cYI/AAAAAAAACmc/1zc52dc7_rwOPSPKMtLJOr2qfVW6xr6wQCLcB/s640/IMG_7235%2Bcropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Last Tuesday I got back from a short three-week long trip to South Sudan.&nbsp; In the newsletter I sent out a few days ago I told you about my goals for the trip and a brief outcome for each of those things.&nbsp; Today I wanted to write again to tell you more about the church in Lalonga.<br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One of our regular prayers is that God would provide godly men in Lalonga for Paul to walk with, disciple, and eventually to help with the leadership of the church.&nbsp; When we left South Sudan a year ago, Paul asked me what we were planning to do with the church planting and Bible study efforts now that everything had dried up, and I told him that we should pray about that while I’m gone and decide what to do next when I get back.&nbsp; My goal in this is that Paul will ultimately be the one to make the decision, and that I would simply be there to help him.<br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We got back to Lohutok on a Saturday night, so Sunday morning we got up and drove to Lalonga to see the church.&nbsp; I wasn’t sure what I would find, but was pleased to see a large group of people gathering when we arrived.&nbsp; They sang like they usually do, and then Paul got up to teach, but before he started, a man named John got up and told the Bible story that they were discussing that day.&nbsp; I don’t remember ever meeting John, but Paul says that I have.&nbsp; I later asked Paul what was going on with this new guy, and he told me that he has been doing Bible study with John and another guy for the last year, but the other guy has been losing interest.&nbsp; We talked again about what it means to be born-again, and Paul assured me that he thinks John is a believer.&nbsp; If this is true, what a huge answer to prayer!<br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I also asked Paul for his thoughts on our next moves in the church planting area.&nbsp; I expected to have a long discussion about whether we should keep going to the expense of driving to far away villages, but that didn’t happen.&nbsp; When I asked Paul what he thought we should do next, he simply said, “We’ve been discussing starting 2-3 new Bible Study groups in the small villages of Lalonga, we have some of the places picked out already.”<br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some of you have been asking about the food situation that I wrote about last month.&nbsp; I went back to South Sudan with a little bit of money (we had to take it from one of our other projects) to help Paul and the church ladies with their shortage.&nbsp; Thanks to some Diguna missionaries in our area, we were able to put 1200kg of sorghum on a truck and take it from Torit back to Lohutok, and later we added another 800kg that we bought locally.&nbsp; I talked to Paul about the best way to distribute this without everyone seeing it as coming from me (and deepening the dependency issues we’ve been struggling so hard against) and he already had an answer.&nbsp; We stored the food in Lohutok, and the “executive committee” that the Lalonga church had formed to make decisions would decide how the food would be distributed, and it would be given away from the church.&nbsp; Thanks to a couple of you who helped give toward helping with this.<br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We’re still waiting for word on when we will be clear to return to South Sudan.&nbsp; God is at work and the way seems to be paved, so we’re working hard to be ready as soon as we get the okay.&nbsp; Please pray for the church in Lalonga to continue to grow and disciple each other, and for God’s clear direction regarding our return, its timing and our focus on finishing our language/culture learning when we return.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel, Caleb<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxRk3jJuQYE/WLl8SRxz7MI/AAAAAAAACmY/Y7kk5-7HjKQTY4y4wEjXEFmFcMmXxN3WgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxRk3jJuQYE/WLl8SRxz7MI/AAAAAAAACmY/Y7kk5-7HjKQTY4y4wEjXEFmFcMmXxN3WgCLcB/s320/IMG_7212.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is John about whom I wrote in the letter.</div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-8312514767925081342017-02-23T10:38:00.000-08:002017-02-24T10:39:23.208-08:00February 25, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dJiO7WXWSlg/WLB9Q5eZNsI/AAAAAAAACb4/QWrZ7hNdcF8FgsRb-OQmSORVY2PxD4jowCLcB/s1600/IMG_7232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dJiO7WXWSlg/WLB9Q5eZNsI/AAAAAAAACb4/QWrZ7hNdcF8FgsRb-OQmSORVY2PxD4jowCLcB/s640/IMG_7232.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is Veronica, one of the ladies from the church in Lalonga.&nbsp; She named her baby “Eemieh” after Amy.&nbsp; The word means “lion” but also sounds a lot like “Amy” which is why the Lopit people call Amy “Lion” (yeah…that’s why!).&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I got back on Tuesday from a three week trip to East Africa.&nbsp; With the time we needed to shop in Uganda before driving to Lohutok (South Sudan) and the travel time back to Uganda at the end of the trip, we were in Lohutok for about 2 weeks.&nbsp; I went with Mitchell, a guy from Oklahoma who is currently raising support to come join our team.&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I had a few purposes for making this short trip back.&nbsp; My first goal was to get an idea of what the security situation in the village areas is like to inform our decision-making process for going back as a family.&nbsp; As far as I can tell, after talking to lots of people on the ground (both foreigners and locals) is that the area seems calm, safe, and not involved in the conflict that has closed off work in other parts of the country.&nbsp; South Sudan is funny like this, with the roads being anywhere from terrible to virtually non-existent and with no other existing infrastructure, it’s possible for there to be war in one part of the country but for other areas to still be relatively safe.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; My second goal for this trip was to simply reconnect with Paul and the church in Lalonga, and to visit some of the areas where we had been doing Bible Study in the past.&nbsp; I was able to spend a lot of time with Paul on this trip, and was able to do some things to help the church in Lalonga which I will write about in another newsletter.&nbsp; The church is still meeting, still growing, Paul has a man whom he is discipling and who is helping him with the preaching on Sunday, and they’re still learning Bible stories.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The third goal for this trip was to take Mitchell on his survey trip.&nbsp; During our two weeks in Lohutok, Mitch was able to see most of the work we’re doing, make a few trips to Torit for shopping, and get a good idea of what life will be like when he comes to Lohutok to join our team.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Will you pray with us now that God will be glorified as the Pioneers African leadership decides whether to allow families back to South Sudan?&nbsp; Pray that God will make His gospel go out whether we’re back as a family, or whether Justin keeps going back alone, or even without us.&nbsp; Pray that we will accept God’s plan for our family, but really, my desire, is to pray that we all get to return to Lohutok, as a family, as soon as possible!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thanks!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Uabq30dzTI/WLB9uZYJExI/AAAAAAAACcA/wf5Wm_ULmzM49sYLFya_ICNf513lyTmZgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Uabq30dzTI/WLB9uZYJExI/AAAAAAAACcA/wf5Wm_ULmzM49sYLFya_ICNf513lyTmZgCLcB/s640/IMG_7230.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some of you remember praying for Paul and Issaye and their new son Joseph.&nbsp; This is Joseph now, he’s not a little baby anymore!</span></div><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-65687615096810360972017-01-25T10:35:00.000-08:002017-02-24T10:36:16.871-08:00January 25, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kzDJBxUa634/WLB8ndi1xiI/AAAAAAAACbs/hZ0L_DP6UXsjtdcxvf-OCUvJ7YJ1AeWOQCLcB/s1600/January%2Bpic%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kzDJBxUa634/WLB8ndi1xiI/AAAAAAAACbs/hZ0L_DP6UXsjtdcxvf-OCUvJ7YJ1AeWOQCLcB/s640/January%2Bpic%2B1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amy, Caleb and Karen (Amy’s mom) eating out in St. Louis when we were there for Christmas with Amy’s family.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Hopefully you had a good Christmas season with your family!&nbsp; We had a great time at four family Christmases and lots of travelling and after lots of good fellowship, food and gifts, we’re glad that the new year is here and we can move on to preparing for our return to South Sudan!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I talked to Paul on Skype last week, it’s the first time we’ve spoken since this time last year, and the news that he gave me was tragic.&nbsp; As many of you know, last year’s food harvest in South Sudan was mostly non-existent.&nbsp; People survived through various types of aid and lots more hunger and waiting.&nbsp; This year the rainy season was good, and the crops were promising, and lots of people in our area were able to bring in lots of food for their families.&nbsp; For the church in Lalonga the story was a little different.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Somebody in the village decided to go hunting.&nbsp; The way they frequently do this is to light a large grassy area on fire, and as the animals run out of the burning grass, the men can shoot the animals and take them home to eat.&nbsp; Unfortunately, starting a fire in the dry season is never a good idea and there is never much advance planning.&nbsp; The fire spread to sorghum gardens belonging to Paul and most of the ladies in the Lalonga church.&nbsp; The report I got from someone other than Paul is that most of Paul’s crop and that of the church ladies was completely destroyed by the fire.&nbsp; With a bad year last year and the fire this year, the outlook is grim and the ladies are actually considering migrating to one of the refugee camps in Kenya.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I am going to be in South Sudan soon.&nbsp; I am leaving the USA on January 30<sup>th</sup> and will be there with Mitchell, a potential team mate, for about three weeks.&nbsp; Please pray that God will provide for the church in this situation.&nbsp; Pray that God would give us wisdom about how to help them alleviate some of their hunger during this time of real tragedy.&nbsp; Pray that God would give us wisdom as we assess the security situation in South Sudan and how safe it will be to return with the family.&nbsp; Pray that God would provide for some of the logistical issues that we’re facing as we try to do the building and transporting of goods involved with the projects that you have helped fund.&nbsp; Pray that Mitchell will get a clear idea about life in South Sudan and his calling, and pray that God would provide safety for us as we travel on the roads.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_iAaAAoONPw/WLB87Y-pylI/AAAAAAAACb0/uJcTAsA51xASRPAEtBpKOvrXnVHmS4VpACLcB/s1600/January%2Bpic%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_iAaAAoONPw/WLB87Y-pylI/AAAAAAAACb0/uJcTAsA51xASRPAEtBpKOvrXnVHmS4VpACLcB/s320/January%2Bpic%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We were at a show in Branson, Ezekiel was very excited to go and see the show…but he didn’t really know what he was in for!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-66925564584825424922016-12-14T10:31:00.000-08:002017-02-24T10:32:15.487-08:00December 14, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-24iEtW9dsqk/WLB7pG1w33I/AAAAAAAACbk/i2flZzLIyRIY9brKUshCEYSvHd66gdosACLcB/s1600/December%2Bpic%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-24iEtW9dsqk/WLB7pG1w33I/AAAAAAAACbk/i2flZzLIyRIY9brKUshCEYSvHd66gdosACLcB/s640/December%2Bpic%2B1.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We’ve been married for five years, and this is the first time we’ve had a Christmas tree!&nbsp; It’s only 4ft tall, but it’s ours!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>On November 30th I flew to Mexico and on December 1st had the surgery that I talked about in my last newsletter. &nbsp;The surgery went well and the pain was only the normal after-surgery aches for a few days. &nbsp;Now I am recovering, still on a liquid diet for a while, and then after a few months of learning how to eat again, we’ll hopefully return to South Sudan.<br /><br />&nbsp; The trip home from mexico was an interesting one. &nbsp;I went through the line at Customs/Border Patrol with a few other people who were patients from the same clinic, but when my turn came it was different. &nbsp;I’ve always been the subject of “random” extra searches and security on international flights because of my travel history, but this is the first time I’ve crossed into the USA by land. &nbsp;When the border agent started thumbing through my passport and saw some of the countries I’d visited, including South Sudan, I got moved to a different area.<br /><br />&nbsp; After 2.5 hours I was finally cleared to enter the United States. &nbsp;During my time with the agents I was questioned on all kinds of stuff: my family, my job, hobbies, names of people we work with, etc. &nbsp;One of the agents even looked through my laptop at my pictures, while another one actually opened and read a page from my journal! &nbsp;In the end they were surprised that I wasn’t impatient with them and that I was doing so well even though I’ve never been detained at a US border before. &nbsp;I guess that training was worth it!<br /><br />&nbsp;Once I got to the airport I found out that I had 3 minutes to spare for check-in. &nbsp;I rushed to the gate, got on my plane, and about 45 minutes later, the whole plane was emptied because of a mechanical issue. &nbsp;I spent the night in San Diego and flew home the next day, only to find out that my bag was still somewhere in Dallas! &nbsp;This morning (a whole week after I got home) I had an email that said my bag was delivered at 2:35am, and I found it on our front porch. &nbsp;People always make comments to me about how hard it must be to travel so much through Africa, but some of my most difficult experiences have been right here at home!<br /><br />Merry Christmas!<br /><br />Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Dt_pzAhAU0/WLB8AlLqr_I/AAAAAAAACbo/VaqY0CXyciAjfYPn4YBjRLYbbrlk0LFmACLcB/s1600/December%2Bpic%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Dt_pzAhAU0/WLB8AlLqr_I/AAAAAAAACbo/VaqY0CXyciAjfYPn4YBjRLYbbrlk0LFmACLcB/s320/December%2Bpic%2B2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-36835170954490202392016-11-06T15:00:00.000-08:002016-11-07T16:33:22.702-08:00October 27, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v3945-fpYsY/WCEblG2Zw1I/AAAAAAAAAvw/qh6PSGlMDcIw0D4iWGT3wH3NYMQj9XwogCK4B/s1600/IMG_20161023_131740602.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v3945-fpYsY/WCEblG2Zw1I/AAAAAAAAAvw/qh6PSGlMDcIw0D4iWGT3wH3NYMQj9XwogCK4B/s640/IMG_20161023_131740602.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ezekiel blowing out his 4<sup>th</sup> Birthday candle at Indian Avenue Baptist Church.</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Anyone who has been around missionaries for a while, especially missionaries in a place like South Sudan, will understand that no matter how much we try to prepare and plan, all plans are tentative.&nbsp; For months we’ve been telling people our travel plans.&nbsp; I (Justin) would go back to SS in November to work on the house, and come back about a month later to get Amy and the kids to return later in the year or early January.&nbsp; Well, that has changed!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We will be going back to Africa a few months later than planned, the delay is a result of a few things that have happened.&nbsp; The first is medical.&nbsp; I have been thinking about getting bariatric surgery for a while, and have had a few doctor friends suggest that it would be a good option for me.&nbsp; With that in mind, I met my biological father for the first time (by phone) a few weeks ago, and when he told me his medical history I decided that having the surgery sooner than later would be a good idea.&nbsp; We were praying about how to get surgery and still return to South Sudan as planned when the next thing happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Pioneers African leadership met last month and decided that they did not want to allow families with children to return to South Sudan until further notice.&nbsp; This wouldn’t affect our plans so much.&nbsp; I was planning on leaving Amy and the kids in Uganda (where it’s safe) for a while and making trips back and forth to Lohutok.&nbsp; This way we could decide when it was safe to go back as a family. With the decision coming down from our leadership (It’s not my call anymore, we’re waiting on a green light from them now) AND the new urgency behind surgery, we decided now would be a good time to get the surgery done.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">I<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> am flying to San Diego on November 30<sup>th</sup> and will have surgery on December 1<sup>st</sup>.&nbsp; That will leave about 4 months to recover before our leaders meet again in April, and at that point we will *plan to* either go back to South Sudan or leave the family in Uganda while Justin goes back and forth.&nbsp; Please be faithful in praying for us during these extra transitions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"/> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"/> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"/> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"/> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"/> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"/> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"/> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"/> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"/> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"/> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"/> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"/> </v:formulas> <v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"/> <o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"/></v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:235.85pt;margin-top:9.75pt;width:287.05pt; height:161.65pt;z-index:-251659776;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square; mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt; mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:right; mso-position-horizontal-relative:margin;mso-position-vertical:absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0; mso-width-relative:page;mso-height-relative:page'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\jculp\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg" o:title=""/> <w:wrap type="tight" anchorx="margin"/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTMBOpURLpc/WCEcR3jR-TI/AAAAAAAAAv4/79xEUjwS4WUrokRsI-pL4FUc3ebGsBIbACK4B/s1600/IMG_20160928_185446273.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTMBOpURLpc/WCEcR3jR-TI/AAAAAAAAAv4/79xEUjwS4WUrokRsI-pL4FUc3ebGsBIbACK4B/s320/IMG_20160928_185446273.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-80886780995097168572016-08-28T10:39:00.000-07:002016-09-08T10:39:39.237-07:00August 28, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXuFOU26hB8/V9Ghma1Vp5I/AAAAAAAAAq0/6RdOrZdvJoAZsvEeU7j6AqzHj_0bWTx-ACLcB/s1600/IMG_20160819_115407544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXuFOU26hB8/V9Ghma1Vp5I/AAAAAAAAAq0/6RdOrZdvJoAZsvEeU7j6AqzHj_0bWTx-ACLcB/s320/IMG_20160819_115407544.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u8FxkZEG6M8/V9GhkH7HMxI/AAAAAAAAAqw/f5l6lCJddtMIhUreBoOB7VMQMK8k_gMygCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160823_180303761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u8FxkZEG6M8/V9GhkH7HMxI/AAAAAAAAAqw/f5l6lCJddtMIhUreBoOB7VMQMK8k_gMygCLcB/s320/IMG_20160823_180303761.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Last month we wrote about the conflict that has recently broken out in South Sudan.&nbsp; The two parties who have been fighting with each other for the past three years had a new “flare-up” of fighting about a month ago, so we are closely watching the news as we decide what to do next.&nbsp; Here’s what we know right now:<o:p></o:p></div><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">There has been some fighting that involves the army and/or the rebels in two places near us (Lafon and Torit).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;calibri&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">The situation with the government army, the rebels, and possible third-party intervention is still pretty nebulous, nobody really knows what to expect next.</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Other organizations in our area have started bringing their missionaries back to their homes, but the advice we’ve received is that families with small children should wait until the rebel plans become more apparent.</span></li></ul><br /><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Our original plan was to speak in churches until the end of October and then, in November, (Justin) would go back to Lohutok to do finishing work on our house. &nbsp;Then, after a month or so of doing work on the house, I would come back to get Amy and the kids to go back together.&nbsp; We have prayed about how to respond to this, and discussed the situation with a few people.&nbsp; Since November is still a few months away, and that is lots of time for things to change, we are going to keep moving forward.&nbsp; If we wait to take the Gospel to the people of South Sudan until there is no fighting or insecurity, the Gospel will probably never get to South Sudan.<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The tough question is, what do we do if November/December comes around and it is still unsafe to return?&nbsp; We know that there are Lopit speaking people in Kampala (the capitol of Uganda), and there are good places for us to stay there if we need them, so language-learning and other training opportunities are available to keep preparing for our return while we wait for the security situation to resolve itself.&nbsp; We strongly feel like God has called us to work with these unreached people, and until He’s made it clear otherwise, we will keep looking for ways to prepare ourselves and make that possible!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-55894122808653192612016-07-21T13:05:00.000-07:002016-07-21T13:05:23.216-07:00July 21, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XbCMODjqlCU/V5Eq5YKph6I/AAAAAAAAAp4/8-twjD2rbuAaLWj_kabrrKvCxvJCelicACLcB/s1600/IMG_20160704_195453136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XbCMODjqlCU/V5Eq5YKph6I/AAAAAAAAAp4/8-twjD2rbuAaLWj_kabrrKvCxvJCelicACLcB/s320/IMG_20160704_195453136.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5yyZRdkRYI0/V5Eq4wvPcfI/AAAAAAAAAp0/K-eT6N_E714IPNyaoRsjc24YwaRb7aqdwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160705_200728007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5yyZRdkRYI0/V5Eq4wvPcfI/AAAAAAAAAp0/K-eT6N_E714IPNyaoRsjc24YwaRb7aqdwCLcB/s320/IMG_20160705_200728007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>If you keep up with the news on South Sudan, you’ve heard by now that more fighting has erupted in the country. Until now the war has not affected us at all as it’s been so far away. After several days of the most recent shootings and looting all over Juba, the capital, we’ve heard that there is also unrest in Torit – the town nearest to us. One of our co-workers heard rumors that the warring sides might be using the Lopit area as a place to hide. This is our tribe. We have been investing in the Lopit since 2013. If the rumors are true, it’s possible that fighting will reach our villages as people from each side go to look for their enemies. We are praying that this doesn’t happen. The last three years of war have shown us that major military activity in any town or village means utter ruin for the people (especially women and children) who are not even involved in the conflict.<br /><br />We are praying for a quick resolution to this conflict. South Sudan has been in some kind of war for more than fifty years, and the biggest outcome has been poverty, human suffering and little to no real development to help the people with their basic everyday needs. As we hear of all of this news we fear for the lives of the people we’ve spent years pouring our lives into, “the least of these,” who have become the pillars of the Lopit church that God is raising up. Please pray vigorously over the next few weeks and months that war doesn’t come to the Lopit Mountains – or that if it does, that somehow God would use it to raise up His church, for His glory, among the Lopit. Pray that the people would be able to find safety and that ultimately Christ’s church would grow.<br /><br />As you remember our past newsletters and the stories of what God has done, please pray for our houseworkers, Deborah and Teresa, and their families, that they would be safe. Also pray the same for both of our guards, Michael and Moses, and their families. Finally, please don’t forget to pray for Paul, the pastor that Justin is discipling, his wife Isayye, and their son who is about 1 year old now; as well as the church he is pastoring and for the other believers in Lohutok. Please pray that all of these people, and their families, are able to find safety if it is necessary.<br /><br />We are still committed to bringing the gospel to the unreached people in South Sudan. Our return to Lohutok is planned for the end of this year, and so many things can change (for better or worse) in that amount of time. Pray that God would give us clear direction as the time gets closer about how to move forward with our family, and the best way to see the gospel go to this area of great need.<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb</div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-67647149769056691612016-06-11T09:58:00.002-07:002016-06-11T10:01:20.388-07:00June 11, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mWDCB58GEKA/V1xDCAwYBzI/AAAAAAAAAos/BAhGz4nce98aVflaqE0efssqOzurcZQbQCK4B/s1600/DSCN2265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mWDCB58GEKA/V1xDCAwYBzI/AAAAAAAAAos/BAhGz4nce98aVflaqE0efssqOzurcZQbQCK4B/s320/DSCN2265.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3nTUWEMlQI/V1xDC07GDZI/AAAAAAAAAo0/F3GciFhv50gdMLKjaqya41SmTCJ-Prj5QCK4B/s1600/DSCN2354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3nTUWEMlQI/V1xDC07GDZI/AAAAAAAAAo0/F3GciFhv50gdMLKjaqya41SmTCJ-Prj5QCK4B/s320/DSCN2354.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Buk56HT0f84/V1xDAJp6_vI/AAAAAAAAAok/frKBnpnlz4Evy2UyYRKc-k8NYohoXeXfgCK4B/s1600/DSCN2361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Buk56HT0f84/V1xDAJp6_vI/AAAAAAAAAok/frKBnpnlz4Evy2UyYRKc-k8NYohoXeXfgCK4B/s320/DSCN2361.JPG" width="320" /></a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The last six weeks have been crazy with travel and speaking engagements.&nbsp; First Ezekiel and I went to Mississippi for a week, then, after 14 days back home (in St. Louis) I went to Warren, Arkansas for a few days.&nbsp; I got home from Warren on a Monday and on Friday we flew to Orlando to visit Pioneers’ base and try to recruit new team mates.&nbsp; We got home from Orlando, and a week later we spent 4 days in Springfield, MO and now we’re back in St. Louis again.&nbsp; On Monday we’re driving to Kansas City for Ezekiel and I to see a doctor, but we’re coming back on the same day, and then in less than two weeks we’re moving out of our home in St. Louis and hitting the road.&nbsp; We’ll be in Columbus, GA for a couple of weeks to visit Amy’s parents and a few partnering churches in the area, and then we’re back to Orlando for a week of debriefing, speaking in Panama City, and then driving to Kansas City where we will settle for our last three months of home assignment.&nbsp; I am speaking at a church in Kansas City on July 24<sup>th</sup>, flying to Orlando the next day to try and recruit more team mates, staying for 4 nights and then flying back to Kansas City to continue visiting friends and churches there.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; God is good in the midst of all of the stress and travel.&nbsp; When we went to Orlando a few weeks ago, Amy told me that she wanted to take Ezekiel to Disney since we were already there. I told her that I thought it would be fun, but the parks are expensive and we’re spending all of our money just to get to Florida and back.&nbsp; Amy, as unreasonable as ever (I’m saying this like it’s a good thing…you’ll see) said, “Well, I’m just going to pray that we get to go somehow.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We got to Orlando on a Friday, and on Saturday we met with a friend who lives two hours away.&nbsp; Our friend had come to visit Lohutok to see the work in South Sudan, and spent a few months there looking for ways that he could be involved and help.&nbsp; When he heard that we were in Orlando, he drove two hours to hang out for the afternoon, and before he left (we never talked to him about Disney) he gave me a check, saying “Use this to take your family to Disney.”&nbsp; Amy may have cried a little when I told her.&nbsp; The pics in this letter are all from our day at Magic Kingdom.&nbsp; God is good!<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If you are in Georgia or Kansas City and would like to come see us speak, I’ve been putting the schedule in the Prayer Calendar, or you can email me.<br /><br />Thanks!<br />Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb<br />justin@culpsudan.com<o:p></o:p></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-28393107422012962992016-05-02T14:18:00.001-07:002016-05-02T14:18:19.202-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vpzp5TaD1mA/VyfEAt_xipI/AAAAAAAAAnU/-FIxnL5Ckewm5NFGB9fxYqsH_UFUUNh8gCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160404_202034185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vpzp5TaD1mA/VyfEAt_xipI/AAAAAAAAAnU/-FIxnL5Ckewm5NFGB9fxYqsH_UFUUNh8gCLcB/s320/IMG_20160404_202034185.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk274yeAqb0/VyfEBYcILZI/AAAAAAAAAnY/SlGx0bhCt64ytSCFx1huCT14KrAYZQ8OACLcB/s1600/IMG_20160414_121530042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk274yeAqb0/VyfEBYcILZI/AAAAAAAAAnY/SlGx0bhCt64ytSCFx1huCT14KrAYZQ8OACLcB/s320/IMG_20160414_121530042.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eeEcqFaEB2U/VyfEB25H-GI/AAAAAAAAAnc/rdID_Jx4xvkIe0rFqfLAi_lAZVDgxy0JwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160423_163551494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eeEcqFaEB2U/VyfEB25H-GI/AAAAAAAAAnc/rdID_Jx4xvkIe0rFqfLAi_lAZVDgxy0JwCLcB/s320/IMG_20160423_163551494.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">We’ve been “in the baby cave” for a few weeks now.&nbsp; At the end of March things got really busy all of a sudden!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On March 30<sup>th</sup> around 3:00 in the morning, Amy woke me up and told me that it was time to go to the hospital.&nbsp; We spent most of the day there, and at 9:36pm Caleb Charles Culp was born.&nbsp; He was 10lbs 3oz and 22 inches long.&nbsp; I (Justin) keep saying “That’s my boy” because, although most babies take a week or more to get back to their birth weight, Caleb had gained a pound before his 2 week checkup!&nbsp; Everyone is doing fine, for now we’re all just trying to sneak in naps until Caleb decides to make sleep a priority!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">On April 3, Amy was discharged from the hospital, but on April 3<sup>rd</sup> I also had my first speaking engagement at a church.&nbsp; I drove to Hillsboro, MO that morning and visited our friends there while Amy was discharged from the hospital, and I picked her and Caleb up on the way home!&nbsp; Since then I’ve been speaking in churches 3 times or more per week, and Amy has been working on her new routine with Ezekiel and now Caleb!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">A few weeks ago Ezekiel and I spent a week in Corinth, Mississippi visiting some of our friends and ministry partners there.&nbsp; Ezekiel got to do fun things like ride horses and go exploring in the woods, and we got to make a lot of new connections with people who are interested in South Sudan.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our schedule is pretty full with places to visit and speak.&nbsp; If you get our prayer calendars, you’ll see that I’ve listed on each Sunday and Wednesday the churches where I will be speaking.&nbsp; If you’re not sure whether you’ll see us, or would like to get together while we’re home, give me a call or write an email and I’m sure we can work something out!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Currently we are trying to add to our monthly support, and get some one-time gifts to finish out our house.&nbsp; If you’ve already seen the presentation, you know what our goals are.&nbsp; Please pray that God will provide new monthly partners to help us meet our budget and get back!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb<o:p></o:p></div></div>Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-89482127662357344722016-01-29T13:04:00.000-08:002016-02-13T13:10:18.988-08:00January 29, 2016January 29, 2016<br /><br />Last time I sent out a newsletter it waspictures of our smashed up pickup. Since then I spent 3 weeks in Uganda waiting for the truck to get fixed, drove back to Lohutok, we spent two weeks packing up the house, drove back to Uganda, spent a week in Uganda with friends for Christmas, flew to Brussels and then to St. Louis. Now we’re here!<br /><br />As soon as we got to the home where we are staying in St. Louis, Ezekiel clearly told us that he did not want to travel and stay in different places for a while, so it’s a good thing we’re here for six months. Right now we are calling churches to schedule speaking engagements, visiting with friends and family, and getting ready to have a baby in March! Amy just found out that she has gestational diabetes again, so pray for her encouragement and health for the rest of the pregnancy.<br /><br />Our plan is to be in St. Louis from now until the last part of June. After that we’ll spend a couple of weeks in Georgia visiting churches in the Columbus area (and Amy’s parents!), and by the end of July we will be in the Kansas City Area. We’re trying to reconnect with our supporters and prayer partners. We also want to get into some new places to speak and try to expand our support base. Anyone who wants to visit with us while we’re home please send me an email.<br /><br />Also keep praying for Paul and the church in Lalonga. When I left South Sudan, Paul had started to help with a Lopit Bible translation, but he’s also pastoring his church and learning/teaching new Bible stories on his own every week. He told me that he needed some other men in the church to help him when he is away, so I challenged him to be the one to seek out some guys who want to follow Jesus and to start discipling them. When I left he had met twice with another man from his village for Bible Study, so pray that through Paul there will be more men in Lalonga who want to follow Jesus and who have a heart to see other people repent and believe!<br /><br />Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and New Baby<br />jculp123180@gmail.com<br />636-233-4835Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-86766004310726695392015-11-27T12:57:00.000-08:002016-02-13T12:59:41.015-08:00November 27, 2015November 27, 2015<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x94WCoD5Yk4/Vr-ZKAAe5gI/AAAAAAAAAlo/kvEMA5Sritw/s1600/WIN_20151114_122945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x94WCoD5Yk4/Vr-ZKAAe5gI/AAAAAAAAAlo/kvEMA5Sritw/s320/WIN_20151114_122945.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>A couple of weeks ago I (Justin) decided to make a trip to Uganda. For various reasons, the work of discipleship in the villages had come to a stop, and Paul had to spend some time in Juba getting paperwork for his job so I didn’t have much work to do. One of our friends in Lohutok needed some things brought back from Kampala and offered to pay for the trip, so I agreed to help him.<br />I left early in the morning, made it across the border into Uganda, and found that they were doing some nice work on the road. I took the detour around a few places where they were burying drainage tunnels in the road, and then passed by a few that were finished. I was driving around 40mph and came over a hill to find what looked like another trench. There was no warning before the hill, and when I tried to stop quickly the antilock brakes engaged, so I quickly tried to dodge the trench and make the detour ‘ramp’ but by then it was too late, and I drove into the hole, about 2 meters deep, at 40mph.<br /><br />It’s been quite the adventure since then. What was supposed to be a 6 day trip with 2 in Kampala has turned into more than 2 weeks while waiting to get the vehicle fixed. We were able to remove the bumper and drive the vehicle the remaining 300 miles to Kampala where I have someone I trust to do the work. Fortunately Amy and Ezekiel weren’t with me.<br /><br />Now, we’re planning to come to Uganda at the end of December to start our journey back to the US for Home Assignment, and it seems that when I get back to Lohutok we’ll only have about two weeks before we have to come back again! Amy is flying to Kampala but Ezekiel and I will drive down. We need the vehicle in Uganda for some other repairs, but with Amy being 6 months’ pregnant, we don’t want her bouncing around for 2 days on the African roads.<br /><br />Will you pray that God provides what we need to pay for the truck to be repaired, that we finish the rest of our traveling safely, that Amy is encouraged and sustained while she’s home alone with Ezekiel waiting for me to get back?<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />Justin Culp<br />jculp123180@gmail.comJustin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-75246042722943777492015-10-29T13:01:00.000-07:002016-02-13T13:01:20.971-08:00October 29, 2015October 29, 2015<br /><br />“Will you teach me about God?” she asked me. I didn’t really know her name; although I was fairly sure I had heard of her and had seen her before. I prayed that God would give me the grace to sufficiently teach her Scripture – in spite of the language barrier and the countless other bridges we would have to cross together.<br /><br />I had been praying for a woman to invest in for several months. I was getting frustrated and exhausted looking for someone. Everyone that I found was either more interested in what I had to give them, wasn’t interested in Jesus, or they weren’t interested in being discipled (probably because they were much older than me). Finally, I prayed that God would send to me whoever He wanted me to disciple.<br /><br />That’s when she came, 10 months ago. Her name is Teresa (her Lopit name is Ihuro, meaning ‘Bamboo’). She says she is 14 years old, although she looks more like 11 or 12. Her grandfather is the village ‘landlord,’ which has nothing to do with owning land but means that people in the village go to him before they plant their crops, and he performs magic to ‘bless’ their crops.<br /><br />Adamantly opposed to the gospel, He told Teresa that if she continued going to church he would burn all of her clothes. He has told all of his family – including Teresa – never to return to his house. She was living with him up to that point. Her father lives in a village several hours away, and the same grandfather had previously attempted to kill her mother and told her not to return to the house. She is now living with her grandmother, who he has also told not to come back to his house.<br /><br />After a couple of months Teresa started working for us, which gives me an opportunity to disciple her on a daily basis. I tell her a Bible story on Saturdays and have her memorize it throughout the week. It turns out that her English is better than I thought, and I’m able to tell most of it in Lopit but fill in with English when I need to. It also gives me an opportunity to pray for her and teach her about godly parenting, for the day she has children. She is great with Ezekiel. She has really become his best friend.<br /><br />Over the past few months, through language issues and other barriers, we have discussed the stories from Creation to the 10 Commandments. I’m hoping to go through a few more and then get to the New Testament before we leave for furlough. Teresa has a great attitude about work (hard to find around here), has a hunger for God’s Word that impresses me, and is the most frugal South Sudanese person I’ve ever met. She saves her money from her salary at our house to buy food and pay for school fees for herself and her family.<br /><br />Sometimes we think she is one of the only true believers in Lohutok, our village. Please pray that God would give Teresa sweet fellowship with the ladies in Lolonga while we are gone, that she would not feel alone and that God would provide for her to keep learning stories and for her other needs.Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-89459099222803294452015-09-28T12:53:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:53:29.429-08:00September 28, 2015September 28, 2015<br /><br />For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; - Philippians 3:20<br /><br />The problem with writing a monthly newsletter is that, when things are slow and boring or even difficult and discouraging, one still feels the need to think of something exciting to put in the newsletter! After sitting at my computer for a few days trying to think of something, I just decided to give it up! The work in Lacharok seems to have stopped. Paul is still optimistic that the guys will come back, but we have not had a good storying session with them since May. In fact, the “leader” of that group, James Latoy, has only been around for one visit since May. On that visit he told us that many of the people were “discouraged” and didn’t want to come anymore. When I asked why he said “They think you deceived them because they were waiting for you to buy them uniforms and book bags.” To memorize stories!<br /><br />Earlier this week I was in Torit buying some supplies and a new battery for the Landcruiser. As I was pulling up to my last stop, the hardware store, I switched on my left turn-indicator. When an oncoming motorbike driver saw my indicator, he freaked out, lost control of the motorbike, and wiped out on the road. He only had some scrapes on his arms and leg, but the front wheel of his motorbike slid under my vehicle, and my back tire went over it, breaking part of the motorcycle. I spent 6 hours on Monday at the traffic police station where they basically told me, “These guys drive too fast on their motorbikes and cause accidents, but you can’t leave him with all of the expenses, so we’re going to charge you. Don’t worry your insurance will pay half.” Now I’m waiting for his follow-up visit to the hospital for his scrapes before I can find out how much that is going to cost.<br /><br />The night after the motorbike incident I couldn’t sleep. Every time I fell asleep I would dream that people were on my front porch begging for something, or a ride somewhere, or forcing me to pay something, and I had to keep waking up and deciding if it was real or a dream!<br /><br />Please pray for us as we spend the last few months before our home-assignment. Pray that God would clearly show us closed-doors, when to say no, and give us patience as we live as aliens and strangers in this world.<br /><br />Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and ??Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-64322579048384796002015-08-31T12:53:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:56:44.178-08:00August 31, 2015August 31, 2015<br /><br />Yesterday I was riding in the car with Paul. We had a 2 hour drive to Lacharok and no passengers (quite a rare occurance!) so it was a good chance to talk to the guy who is sometimes our only faithful disciple. I was talking to him about the time that we’re going to be gone next year, from February to November, for furlough. Lately it seems like every time we have to take a trip or take a few weeks off from doing Bible study in the villages (Lalonga and Lacharok), it can take weeks to re-connect and catch up with people.<br /><br />That makes the 8-9 months we’re going to be away next year a little stressful. I asked Paul what it would take to make sure that the groups keep meeting and keep learning Bible stories while we’re gone and he answered, “I can read the Bible and learn the stories I need to tell, but I don’t know how to get from the ‘What does it say?’ to the ‘What does it mean?’ and ‘What should we do?’” I told him we could work on some ways to do that over the next few months, but then decided to just talk about it. We reviewed the golden calf story and then I asked him, “What does this story teach us about God?” He couldn’t give me an answer, so I repeated the first two sentences of the story and then asked the question again, and immediately he said “That’s easy, God keeps his promises.”<br /><br />After coming up with five statements about God from the story, I asked him, “What does this story teach us about mankind?” We went through the story bit by bit again but mostly came up with “People are quick to disobey and utterly rebel against God.” After that I asked him, “Now what can we apply to our own lives from this story?” Again he was quiet. I repeated the sentence, “People are quick to disobey and rebel against God” and said “Is that true about you?” He agreed that it was, so I said “How?” He gave me a few general answers about things he used to do, so I said “What about yesterday? How were you quick to disobey and rebel against God yesterday?”<br /><br />Again he was quiet. I shared with him some of my own shortcomings. Impatience with people, especially my wife, anger and general arrogance about getting my own way, those were just a few things I told him. Finally he interrupted me as I was about to start again and said, “Sometimes my wife talks to me a certain way and I just get angry!” After that he went on to tell me about other things that he does, and knows are sinful, but they are things that he’s never really considered a need to repent from. They’re not “big” like drunkenness or murder or going to the rainmaker. We then discussed the importance to repent from those things, and have a right attitude about ourselves by realizing our own sin. It was a good drive overall…<br /><br />Justin (and Amy, Ezekiel and “New Baby”)Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-66333582735155110482015-07-29T12:44:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:46:31.877-08:00July 29, 2015July 29, 2015<br /><br />For the past few weeks I’ve been lamenting to Amy about how it seems like there’s not much happening with our disciples. One of them in Loming just doesn’t come when we’re supposed to meet, and in Lacharok they asked us to stop coming for three weeks or so because everyone is busy working in the gardens. I decided to use the down time to get some work done on the house, but getting the materials we need just hasn’t worked out either, so it feels like I’m just sitting idle.<br /><br />Last week Paul and I decided that, in addition to studying stories with the ladies in his church on Sunday mornings, we would also start meeting with them on Wednesday mornings to review the stories and make sure they know them well. On Wednesday I went at 6:30 in the morning and listened while Paul spent two hours teaching the creation story to a group of seven women and one man. At the end they even turned the creation story into a song! I was hoping to somehow include the song with the online version of this update, but I haven’t been able to get a recording of it yet. When I do I’ll send a separate email, or I’ll add a video to next month’s newsletter.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and giving toward the well project. Pioneers’ finance system has been down for a while since they are installing new software, so I haven’t been able to see individual giving since mid-June, but it seems like the rest of the money to pay for the drilling project has come in! Our next goal will be to get a pump for the well and build a water tower to hold the water and feed the house. Those things will come later!<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and…someone else!Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-35221814383641586032015-06-29T12:46:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:51:21.934-08:00June 29, 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SBcMIllBpPM/Vr-XQH9LLVI/AAAAAAAAAlc/qlQfLbpkrOk/s1600/DSCN1686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SBcMIllBpPM/Vr-XQH9LLVI/AAAAAAAAAlc/qlQfLbpkrOk/s320/DSCN1686.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>June 29, 2015<br /><br />This is Madalena. Madalena has been one of the regular members/leaders in the Lalonga church for a while now. She leads most of the singing and handles all of the offerings, and a few times when the pastor was out of town, she even told the Bible story. Madalena also comes with us to another village, Lacharok, every week because she wants to participate in the Bible study there and sometimes brings some grain to sell.<br /><br />One Tuesday I went to Lalonga to meet with Paul. I found his house empty, he had gone to Kapoeta to sell his bamboo. Since Paul wasn’t around I walked up to Madalena’s house to visit and ask if she knew about Paul’s plans for returning. Nobody had heard from Paul but they told me that Madalena’s husband was sick. Madalena’s husband was living in Torit and working for the fire brigade. He had three wives (and one who died from a snake bite) and took great care of all three of them. I had only met him a few times when he came to thank me for helping his wife get out to sell her grain.<br /><br />The symptoms seemed like malaria, he had a fever and was sweating and dizzy, but it seemed advanced, like he’d been sick for a long time. I gave him some malaria medicine that I had in my bag and I took him to Lohutok to visit the clinic. After they had been at the clinic for two days, Madalena came to my house at 10:00pm on a Wednesday night and told me that her husband had died. I drove them back to Lalonga with the body in the back of the pickup and they buried him that night.<br /><br />I’m writing this newsletter four days after the husband’s death. Today we went to Lalonga for worship but Paul was still gone. I thought that meant we wouldn’t meet since there was no preacher who spoke Lopit, but I was wrong. We went to Madalena’s house where the funeral was still in full effect. There were at least fifty people sitting around her house mourning. Madalena called everyone over to sit around her, led some singing, and told the story of Genesis 1-3. Then she preached the gospel. At her own husband’s funeral.<br /><br />Pray for Madalena and her children as they adjust to life without the husband to provide for them.<br /><br />Pray that God would provide godly examples for their children and that they would have the food and things they need to live.<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />Justin, Amy and EzekielJustin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-82269684740167818182015-05-28T12:42:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:44:00.677-08:00May 28, 2015May 28, 2015<br /><br />Meet Paul and Issaye. Eight years ago, Paul was forced to marry Issaye by his family even though he didn’t want to. A few years later it became apparent that the two of them couldn’t conceive a child. In this culture, children are a big deal and not being able to conceive is an even bigger deal. Both Paul and Issaye faced pressure from their families to divorce and remarry, or in Paul’s case to take additional wives to add children to the family. &nbsp;At some point in Paul’s life, he said that a Catholic priest told him that despite their problems, he should love his wife, never divorce, and never take additional wives. Paul says they continued trying various “traditional” methods to cure sterility, but none of those worked. &nbsp;About 3 years ago Paul met Chuck. Through Chuck’s counsel and guidance,<br /><br />Paul decided to renounce the local traditions and magic and to make a public statement that he was trusting God to provide him with a child. There were plans to take Paul and Issaye to Kijabe hospital in Kenya to explore the medical cause of this problem, but a week before that trip was scheduled Paul told us that Issaye was late for her monthly cycle. The next day she took a pregnancy test which read positive.<br /><br />On April 24, Issaye gave birth to Joseph Malis, strong and healthy. They chose the name “Joseph”<br />after Paul and I listened to Genesis in the car. He heard about Rachel’s inability to deliver, and when God finally gave her a child they called him Joseph. The word “Malis” is typically used for “I’m sorry” but it really means “There is nothing bad.” Paul chose that name to say that their bad condition has finally ended. Will you pray that Joseph grows up to be a healthy man who loves Jesus, and that he can have many brothers and sisters?<br /><br />Thanks!Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-13327528952103489672015-04-30T12:40:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:41:15.342-08:00April 29, 2015April 29, 2015<br /><br />In just a few weeks we will have been back in South Sudan for a year and a half. It seems like most of our time back so far has been spent learning: Learning language (Amy is making huge strides, me not so much), learning how to fix the car, build a house, cook/bake meals in a completely new way, Learning how to drive again on roads that aren’t really roads, Learning how to free a car that is hopelessly stuck in the mud, Learning how to treat a sick little boy with malaria, learning how to<br />get to new places, learning how to get along with other missionaries, learning how to build a drain and trap for the kitchen sink, learning how NOT to install a shower, learning about who we are as a bunch of sinners trying to live in the same house together…lots and lots of learning. &nbsp;Since we arrived here, Amy has been begging me to teach her to drive a car with a manual transmission, that’s<br />something she never learned. Finally, a few months ago, I started letting her drive so she could learn (I had to get a new clutch first!) and she caught on quickly. I turned her loose to drive out and visit people, and she was really excited.<br /><br />Well, learning to drive here is more than just a stick-shift, it’s also learning to dodge constant potholes and mud pits, knowing when to speed up and slow down, and how to avoid getting stuck. When Amy came home the first day, the shock absorber on the pickup was broken. I immediately knew which spot in the road she had hit…it’s impossible to see that large pothole until you’re almost on top of it, and the road is smooth there so it’s tempting to go fast. You just have to know it’s there.<br />I’m sure there’s a great spiritual application to that story and maybe someday on furlough you’ll hear me use it as a sermon illustration, but I want to finish the story. I called a company in Nairobi to order new shock absorbers.<br /><br />They told me that they would take a credit card, but at the last minute said they couldn’t over the phone. So, I arranged for $1200 to be wired from my US bank account to their account to pay for the shocks. They then delivered the parts to the airport, where they were flown to another part of Kenya to be delivered to us. The flight comes through twice a month so we knew it would be only a week or so before we got the box, but then that flight was cancelled because there wasn’t enough volume to justify the flight…then the next one got cancelled too! I was making plans to take a bus to Kenya and get the parts, but that didn’t happen. The busses weren’t going that way because people were shooting at cars on part of that road.<br /><br />I tried to make a plan to fly to Kenya and get them, but the only flight out I could have taken was full. By this time the shocks on the other car were completely worn out and it was becoming an emergency, but there wasn’t much I could do! Finally, after a week of emails and phone calls, we were able to get the shocks on a flight to Torit. I drove to Torit (the 3 hour trip took 5 because of the shocks) and when I got there, I found an email from the pilot saying that they were going to deliver the shocks to Lohutok after all! I spent another night on the phone getting it changed to Torit, got my shocks the next day and put the new ones on the LandCruiser…six weeks later! Never<br />ask a missionary in the bush, “What do you do with all of your time? <br /><br />Please continue to pray for us as we are learning language and culture and sharing the gospel with these villages. Pray that we would &nbsp;be quick, humble learners and pray that the cars would hold up.<br /><br />Thanks!Justin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1604560849348704956.post-11251211338801243182015-04-01T12:36:00.000-07:002016-02-13T12:40:52.088-08:00April 1, 2015April 1, 2015<br /><br />This month I’ve been working with men and women in Loming, Lalonga and Lacharok to try and teach them Bible stories from memory. Since all of these guys have heard the gospel numerous times from Chuck and me, we’re able to commit a “no-no” in normal storying settings, we connect each story to the story of Christ and the gospel. Last week I taught the story of Cain and Abel to Paul. Paul Learns the stories quickly, there are many Old Testament stories that he’s just never heard or read, so he’s excited to hear them. As we were discussing the Cain and Abel story, Paul started asking me questions like, “What application do we make from this story?” He wanted to know how to teach the story to the people in his church and in the other villages where he is leading most of the teaching.<br /><br />After discussing the story for a while, I asked Paul, “What was the cause of Cain’s anger?” Many animist people who hear this story for the first time immediately assume that God was displeased with Cain’s offering because it did not involve blood, and I wanted Paul to see the sin in Cain’s heart. Finally I asked him, “Imagine you are standing in front of Jesus right now, and giving Him the best of everything you have: children, crops, livestock, money, whatever it might be. Now, imagine that Jesus looks at your offering with disgust and walks away. What is your response? Do you get angry because you are expecting something different? Do you get bitter because you think your offering deserves a better response? Or is your heart broken because you realize there is something wrong with your relationship? Your answer will tell you a lot about your soul, and your motivation for serving Jesus.”<br /><br />Please pray for the men and women in these three villages. Pray that they will serve and follow Jesus out of love for Him and not because of some material expectation (from God, from the missionaries, etc.).<br /><br />Thanks!<br /><br />Justin and Amy CulpJustin Culphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09311955899380060341noreply@blogger.com0